Pilfer proof hosiery package



June 7, 1955 M. J. GORDON PILFER PROOF HOSIERY PACKAGE Filed April 1'7, 1952 IA'VENTOR. Me V/h 7: Goy-d 4.1 war Fig. 5

United States Patent 2,710,092 PILFER PROOF HOSIERY PACKAGE Melvin J. Gordon, Wellesley, Mass., assignor to Melvin J. Gordon, Sadye Z. Gordon and Natalie G. Stone,

doing business as Manchester Hosiery Mills, Manchester, N. H.

Application April 17, 1952, Serial No. 282,845 2 Claims. (Cl. 206-7) The present invention relates to a means and method of packaging hosiery. As is well known, hosiery, particularly ladies hosiery is now being sold in self service chain stores. In such stores, the hosiery is usually placed on a shelf, packed individually in package pairs and the customer selects what she wants by the package and takes it over to the cashier who puts it in a bag and rings up the sale. Since these hosiery packages are very small and can readily be opened, they may be easily pilfered, by putting them in a pocket, or the packages can readily be opened and the stockings removed and put in a pocket by the person who wants to pilfer the hosiery. It is of course essential that the stockings be displayed so that the purchaser may choose her selection. It is also necessary to permit the customer to have easy access to the package. Under these conditions it is diflicult to guard the hosiery sutficiently so that they cannot be easily stolen from the shelf.

The present invention has for its object the design of a package which cannot be too easily stolen. In the first place the package is made of an awkward size to be concealed in the average pocket in clothing or garment, and secondly, the hosiery is so packed in the package that it cannot be removed without breaking the package quite completely.

These and other features will be readily appreciated from the description of the invention as set forth below when taken in connection with the drawings illustrating an embodiment of the same, in which:

Figures 1 and 2 show elements respectively of the inside of the package.

Figure 3 shows a face view of the package with portions broken away.

Figure 4 shows a section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 shows a section taken on the line 55 of Figure 3, and

Figure 6 shows a face view on a small scale of the complete package.

In the drawings, Figure 2 shows a box 1, which has an open top with a bottom 2 and sides 3, 4, 5 and 9. This open box may be of cardboard, stiffened paper, or some other similar material and is of such a size as to receive and hold a tray 6, which will snugly fit into the open box so that sides 7 and 8 of the tray will come up against the sides 4 and 9 of the box. However, the end edges of the tray 10 and 11 do not extend as far as the side walls 3 and 5 of the box respectively, so that there is a space between the edges 10 and 11 and the side walls 3 and 5. The bottom 12 of the tray when in position in the box, rests easily against the bottom 2 of the box. The tray has its sides 7 and 8 attached to the side walls 4' and 9 of the box by means of staples 13 and 14 or the two elements may be attached in any other suitable manner as by cementing, riveting or any other equivalent means.

The hosiery as indicated by the dotted line in Figure 1 by 15, is wrapped around the bottom of the tray, making the wrapping around the bottom of more than a single lap so that the stocking is securely retained between the box and the tray and cannot be pulled out. The tray itself is preferably of a cardboard and has a soft unglazed surface so that the hosiery will not slide 2,710,092 Patented June 7, 1955 "ice over the surface but will be held by the edges and surface of the tray. This together with the fact that the tray rests closely to the bottom of the box, makes it impossible for one to take hold of one end of the stocking and pull it out of the box. The box itself is wrapped with a thin paper or plastic cover 16, which as indicated more clearly in Figure 6, is provided with a clear window opening 17, which shows the color, size and other markings which are commonly placed on the top welt of the hosiery. This wrapping may be cellophane wrapping or other suitable plastic sheeting may be used, and while the whole top may be transparent, I prefer to limit the window opening to less than the full top of the box so that the internal construction and arrangement is not readily visible. The package should have a dimension of about 7" x 6" and will be about A2" to A in thickness. Larger and smaller sizes may be used but by making the box of approximately the size set forth above, it is sufficiently clumsy so that it cannot readily be concealed and this is of actual value for the intended purpose.

It will readily be seen that the package also provides the advantage of holding the hosiery in a fixed position, thereby keeping it neat and well packed at all times.

A small strip of transparent adhesive may be extended from the welt edge of the stocking to the side of the case as shown at 18, Figure 5, so that even though the package is roughly handled and tossed around, the stocking itself will always remain in its proper position.

In actual sales display, the individual boxes may be stacked on a counter or shelf, either in a fiat or tilted position so that the purchaser may easily inspect the packages and take themoff the shelf for purchase as previously set forth.

In order to pilfer the hosiery, one would either have to take the whole package, which as has been explained, is clumsy, or take time to break the tray loose from the box so that the stockings may be unwound from the tray. This will take a comparatively long time and cannot be done except in a fairly exposed manner which can readily be seen by proper observers in the stores.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. A pilfer proof package for hosiery comprising a box, having side walls and a bottom, a tray fitting into said box having a bottom and opposing side walls and having a width narrower than the width of the inside of said box, means securing the tray only in its side walls to the side walls of the box leaving the other edges of the bottom of the tray spaced from the side walls of the box whereby a pair of hosiery may be wrapped about the tray and held in said package.

2. A pilfer proof package for hosiery comprising a box, having side walls and a bottom, a tray fitting into said box having a bottom with an unfinished surface, opposing side walls and ends, having a width narrower than the width of the inside of said box, means securing the side walls only to the side walls of the box leaving the other edges of the bottom of the tray spaced from the side walls of the box, whereby a pair of hosiery may be wrapped about the tray and held in said package.

References Jited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 113,982 Weiss Mar. 28, 1939 D. 162,710 Brazeau Apr. 3, 1951 216,233 Simon .a June 3, 1879 1,044,400 Lewis Nov. 12, 1912 1,780,558 Kavanau Nov. 4, 1930 1,910,374 Williams May 23, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 283,331 Great Britain Jan. 12, 1928 911,042 France Feb. 25, 1946 

